Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Canadian born actors Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas created the characters Bob and Doug McKenzie for the Candaian-syndicated comedy show SCTV. The McKenzies were a couple of stereotypical Canadian goofs (I have it on good authority that Candians don't act this way regularly) who called each other “hosers”, swilled beer and created this tortured version of the 12 Days of Christmas. Here is an animated version. Thanks to the vodka-swilling James Wigderson for this suggestion.

Here's The Hockey Song (along with Sudbury Saturday Night) by Stompin Tom Connors at the behest of Canadian expatriate, illusory Tenant. A fine number seven entry in our very illogical ranking of all-time best Canadian songs.

Illusory Tenantwondered whether a list was forthcoming of Canadian all-time favorite songs. I had not intended that with this post, but in the spirit of giving here is Number Nine, Helpless by Neil Young. Suggestions are welcome.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Paul Weyrich, whom some considered the father of the religious right and one of the founders of modern conservatism, died this morning at the age of 66.

In my mind, Weyrich is notable for a number of ideas he advanced using the Republican party as the vehicle. One was the the conservative effort at voter suppression. He said as much in 1980.

Now many of our Christians have what I call the goo-goo syndrome -- good government. They want everybody to vote. I don't want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people, they never have been from the beginning of our country and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.

Sound familiar? It's just one example of his anti-democratic zeal.

Weyrich was also was a homophobe as this snippet of a conversation he had with Michelle Norris of NPR in 2006 illustrates.

Weyrich: It has been known for many years that Congressman Foley was a homosexual. Homosexuals tend to be preoccupied with sex - the idea that he should be continued, or should have been continued as chairman on the Committee for Missing and Exploited Children, given their knowledge of that is just outrageous.

Norris: Now, before we go on, I think I can say, Mr. Weyrich, that there quite a few people who would take exception to the statement that homosexuals are preoccupied with sex.

Weyrich: Well, I don't care whether they take exception to it - it happens to be true.

Norris: That is your opinion.

Weyrich: Well, it's not my opinion, it's the opinion of many psychologists and psychiatrists who have to deal with them.

If their agenda was hidden 15 years ago, today it is in full public view. Just take a look at their Web sites, where they document in considerable detail an agenda on a wide range of issues: judicial nominations, same-sex marriage, and faith-based issues – and an agenda that, let us be clear, goes well beyond legitimate engagement in controversial social and political issues to a fundamental usurpation of all that America represents.

Among the group's members are these extremeists.

The Alliance Defense Fund - Alan SearsMost importantly, the court victories are vital steps to keep doors open for the spread of the gospel and reclaim the legal system for Jesus Christ.

The American Family Association - Donald WildmonThe American Famaily Association, “believes that God has communicated absolute truth to man through the Bible, and that all men everywhere at all times are subject to the authority of God’s word. Therefore, culture based on biblical truth best serves the well-being of our country."

Family Research Council - Tony PerkinsChristians can be loyal to liberal democracy as long as rights are carefully controlled by a dominant culture that directs them to the true hierarchy of ends.

Focus on the Family - James DobsonThe enemies of morality will not stop and will not back off. The Left cannot and will not change… no matter how many God-fearing and God-honoring women and men are elected and appointed to public office, until the hearts of the people change, we will not turn around this culture and restore our Biblical foundations.

The movement that Weyrich helped come to fruition is suffering through some hard times these days, but its message of intolerance for others continues on.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Erica Heller's comments regarding George Bush were sent to me by that worthy mom-of-mine and they are reproduced below.

Into yesterday's daily meat grinder of news went a little bit of everything, the Madoff debacle, the shoes tossed at Bush, Caroline Kennedy's political aspirations, the already by now daily dump on Obama & Co., the Iago Blago, and what a recipe it was. But hello? Seemingly lost in the proverbial shuffle, but for Keith and Rachel, the two worthiest guardians at the gates of our collective conscience, and what knocked the very wind out of me, were just two little words petulantly uttered by Bush to the ever-formidable Martha Raddatz in this lame duck's lamest, latest cheesy attempt at anthropomorphism: "So what?' said the man in charge of the free world, when asked about whether or not Al-Qaeda was in Iraq before we were. So what? Huh? Were chillier, crueler, more cavalier words ever spoken? Somehow, this seems to be lost in the news today but my brain refuses to flush it. Perhaps because my blood is still boiling.

It seems to me that with those two extraordinary, positively barbaric words, we finally got to see the true Bush, without artifice, without the smug, sneering frozen mask of pre-prepared, freeze-dried answers to questions, which he always seemed so infuriated at having to answer.

Indeed, he is the very epitome of a So What President. So what if the Katrina victims rot? So what if the world hates us? So what if our actions resonate everywhere with dire, catastrophic consequences? So what if people are starving and have no health care in one of the richest nations in the world. And so what if we leaped into an unnecessary war with manipulated "evidence", in which thousands have perished, utterly pointlessly? After all, we are not permitted to see the caskets anyway, right? And so what if the veterans come home to outrageously disgraceful medical care as well as, at best, precarious financial circumstances? There is no end to the list and no end to the "So whats", because this is a person who checked out years ago, if indeed he ever checked in. The difference now is that with only 35 interminably long days left to this hideous sham, he no longer has to even attempt to try to seem concerned, involved, present.

And I am left to wonder for all 35 of them, and surely way, way beyond, how this imposter can possibly be headed off, untroubled, unfettered, into the sunset, bound for a cushy life in Dallas, instead of a brutal trial in The Hague. I mean, is anyone accountable here? Responsible? Officially culpable?

Or will history's inevitable response to all this be just more of the same?

Will it also whisper: "So what"?

Isn't it the truth?

And his legions of admirers and enablers are just as hideously guilty. They checked out of the human race 14 years ago when Gingrich and pals, playing upon fears and anger, first rode to power. Since then they've plundered the economy, created more fear and anger based on ignorance, unleashed an unnecessary war, and set back foreign relations 60 years.

A generation from now I hope we will be able to look back and be thankful that most of the damage has been undone. I hope I'll be able to say when I hear a conservative lament that the Bush years are unfairly treated by historians – So what!

Monday, December 15, 2008

Rumor has it that the Milwaukee Brewers are considering giving the Iraqi journalist who threw two shoes at President Bush a tryout for the 2009 season. Even though Muntader al-Zaidi missed the President, the hope is that he will find it easier to throw a basbeall accurately. With CC Sabathia already signed by the Yankees, and Ben Sheets not likely to return to the Brewers' rotation, there is a need for mining new talent, so to speak.

The source also noted that Iraq is a largely untapped region for baseball talent and perhaps some of the bomb throwers living there might be convinced to try a less lethal sport.

Friday, December 12, 2008

I've added Nick Schweitzer to the blog roll. I don't know why he wasn't on earlier. I've also made some adjustments because the blogger seemed to have left the premises, or the blogger had become uninteresting -- or too unhinged.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

The way we wished it had been, just with different characters. Think about how much the Republicans/conservatives blew it. They had a cowed media and an intimidated Democratic party to deal with. It should have been easy. All they had to figure out was how to govern and get their message across without the division, intolerance and hate.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

You know, sometimes one can get carried away by the moment and write things that he does not really mean. I have done that via email and on my blog regarding Fred Dooley.

From this point on I will be making it a point of mine not to respond to anything Fred may say of a negative sort, nor will I start anything with him. 'Tis the Christmas season, so why not reach out to someone you may not like and try to put an end to the animosity.

Also, I made a point on another blog of threatening to release information that had been provided to me by Fred in confidence. While I did not expressly say what had been sent to me, I did hint at the contents and make fun of them. There was no reason to, and I will not follow through on my threat to release the story.

It's all Mike Mathias' fault for alerting me to it. Well, no – it's Fred Dooley's fault for not listing The Other Side of My Mouth higher on his liberal hitlist of sites that had not jumped into the fray quickly enough over Illinois Gov. Rod's indictment. When Fred did get around to pointing me out on his list, it was to suggest that rather than heap all sorts of opprobrium Blagojevich's way, I had written a defense of Bill Ayers.

In typical Fred style, that's not true and it is dishonest. I did indeed write a post regarding Bill Ayers, but had done so two days before the news came out about the indictments. Hardly a case of ignoring one for the other. I pointed this out to Fred in an email (because I'm banned from commenting at his site), adding that if he had actually read the post he would have seen that I was not actually defending Ayers. Fred's reply was classic:

Yes Tim when you attack those who would dare to bring him up you are defending.

Interesting. The point of the post was to comment on Ayers' op-ed in the New York Times. I happened to agree with Ayers' assessment that the guilt by association tactics used by the right regarding some closer connection between Ayers and President-Elect Barck Obama were dishonest. That's not a defense of Ayers, it's agreement with a point he makes. I also wrote that I was troubled by his explanations for the illegal actions he took, including exploding bombs that did not take lives, but could have. But that was not enough for the not so nimble brain housed in the large body named Fred. I was a defender.

So, according to Fred's illogic, if I were to say it is dishonest for people to continue to blame Germans for the sins of Adolf Hitler, then I would actually be defending Adolf Hitler.

Similarly, if I were to say that Fred's support of the worst of George Bush's Iraq policies makes him nothing more than a whiny little sychophant, I'm supporting Saddam Hussein.

Fred really is a classic. Please blog long and hearty – the merriment he provides cannot be measured. As Michael said, “Fred Dooley is fucking valuable.”

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

I received this from a friend of mine. I checked it out and found it's been flying around the intertubes for at least a couple years now. I'm sure some dipshit gun-hugger (you know to whom I refer) will have something smart to say but I don't care. the story is funny.

Last weekend I saw something at Larry's Pistol & Pawn Shop that sparked my interest. The occasion was our 15th anniversary and I was looking for a little something extra for my wife Julie. What I came across was a 100,000-volt, pocket/purse-sized taser. The effects of the taser were supposed to be short lived, with no long-term adverse affect on your assailant, allowing her adequate time to retreat to safety?

WAY TOO COOL!

Long story short, I bought the device and brought it home. I loaded two AAA batteries in the darn thing and pushed the button. Nothing! I was disappointed. I learned, however, that if I pushed the button AND pressed it against a metal surface at the same time, I'd get a blue arc of electricity darting back and forth between the prongs.

AWESOME!

Unfortunately, I have yet to explain to Julie what that burn spot is on the face of her microwave. Okay, so I was home alone with this new toy, thinking to myself that it couldn't be all that bad with only two triple-A batteries, right? There I sat in my recliner, my cat Gracie looking on intently (trusting little soul) while I was reading the directions and thinking that I really needed to try this thing out on a flesh & blood moving target. I must admit I thought about zapping Gracie (for a fraction of a second) and thought better of it. She is such a sweet cat. But, if I was going to give this thing to my wife to protect herself against a mugger, I did want some assurance that it would work as advertised. Am I wrong?

So, there I sat in a pair of shorts and a tank top with my reading glasses perched delicately on the bridge of my nose, directions in one hand, and taser in another. The directions said that a one-second burst would shock and disorient your assailant; a two-second burst was supposed to cause muscle spasms and a major loss of bodily control; a three-second burst would purportedly make your assailant flop on the ground like a fish out of water. Any burst longer than three seconds would be wasting the batteries.

All the while I'm looking at this little device measuring about 5" long, less than 3/4 inch in circumference. Pretty cute really and (loaded with two itsy, bitsy triple-A batteries) thinking to myself, 'no possible way!' What happened next is almost beyond description, but I'll do my best?

I'm sitting there alone, Gracie looking on with her head cocked to one side as to say, 'don't do it dipshit,' reasoning that a one-second burst from such a tiny little ole thing couldn't hurt all that bad. I decided to give myself a one second burst just for heck of it. I touched the prongs to my naked thigh, pushed the button, and . . .

HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION!WHAT THE HELL!

I'm pretty sure Jessie Ventura ran in through the side door, picked me up in the recliner, then body slammed us both on the carpet, over and over and over again. I vaguely recall waking up on my side in the fetal position, with tears in my eyes, body soaking wet, both nipples on fire, testicles nowhere to be found, with my left arm tucked under my body in the oddest position, and tingling in my legs? The cat was making meowing sounds I had never heard before, clinging to a picture frame hanging above the fireplace, obviously in an attempt to avoid getting slammed by my body flopping all over the living room.

Note: If you ever feel compelled to 'mug' yourself with a taser, one note of caution: there is no such thing as a one second burst when you zap yourself! You will not let go of that thing until it is dislodged from your hand by a violent thrashing about on the floor. A three second burst would be considered conservative?

SON-OF-A-BITCH, THAT HURT LIKE HELL!

A minute or so later (I can't be sure, as time was a relative thing at that point), I collected my wits (what little I had left), sat up and surveyed the landscape. My bent reading glasses were on the mantel of the fireplace. The recliner was upside down and about 8 feet or so from where it originally was. My triceps, right thigh and both nipples were still twitching. My face felt like it had been shot up with Novocaine, and my bottom lip weighed 88 lbs. I had no control over the drooling. Apparently I shit myself, but was too numb to know for sure and my sense of smell was gone. I saw a faint smoke cloud above my head which I believe came from my hair.

I'm still looking for my nuts and I'm offering a significant reward for their safe return!!

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Bill Ayers has finally responded to the unfounded allegations from the right nut-wing that he and President-Elect Barack Obama (I love writing that) were pals who liked nothing better than to pal around – that in fact, these BFFs were likely conspiring to take over the government and have a Muslim theocracy installed soon after. The allegations of course were nonsense.

Ayers states, in his op-ed piece published in the New York Times on Dec. 5, that he refrained from commenting during the campaign because he saw no way to have a rational discussion. I agree. He writes:

Unable to challenge the content of Barack Obama’s campaign, his opponents invented a narrative about a young politician who emerged from nowhere, a man of charm, intelligence and skill, but with an exotic background and a strange name. The refrain was a question: “What do we really know about this man?”

And it continues. Witness the article in Conservapedia by Andy Schafly and the accompanying approval of its contents by local blogger, dad29. One must be capable of rational thought to be able to comprehend a rational discussion. On the subject of Obama and Ayers, Schafly and dad29, and generally the right-side of the cheddarsphere are found sorely lacking.

I was 14-years old in 1970; at that time six years older than the future President-Elect Barack Obama (nice sound to it). While I and friends shared thoughts about the war, we were only vaguely aware of larger protests. I remember reports of bombings and knew that an uncle of mine had gotten caught in a sweep in Milwaukee of protestors by the police and had been arrested. Guilt by looks; he had the long hair and beard popular then. But these all happened elsewhere. In much the same way that small northern communities were shielded from the civil rights movement and meeting black people in general, we did not feel the impact of the explosions of anger toward the war. Regarding these assaults on the establishment, Ayers writes further:

I never killed or injured anyone. I did join the civil rights movement in the mid-1960s, and later resisted the draft and was arrested in nonviolent demonstrations. I became a full-time antiwar organizer for Students for a Democratic Society. In 1970, I co-founded the Weather Underground, an organization that was created after an accidental explosion that claimed the lives of three of our comrades in Greenwich Village. The Weather Underground went on to take responsibility for placing several small bombs in empty offices — the ones at the Pentagon and the United States Capitol were the most notorious — as an illegal and unpopular war consumed the nation.

I'm very troubled by these acts of rebellion. Innocent people could have been killed by these weapons, as did occur with the Sterling Hall bombing in Madison in 1970. In the United States these sorts of deeds are looked at with disdain and opprobrium. Even Ayers admits, “The Weather Underground crossed lines of legality, of propriety and perhaps even of common sense.” He is fortunate that no lives were lost due to his actions, otherwise he would not be writing this opinion in a major newspaper, let alone being the unfocused and often delirious attention of many.

Regarding the dishinesty of the right, however, Ayers is right on when he writes:

The dishonesty of the narrative about Mr. Obama during the campaign went a step further with its assumption that if you can place two people in the same room at the same time, or if you can show that they held a conversation, shared a cup of coffee, took the bus downtown together or had any of a thousand other associations, then you have demonstrated that they share ideas, policies, outlook, influences and, especially, responsibility for each other’s behavior. There is a long and sad history of guilt by association in our political culture, and at crucial times we’ve been unable to rise above it.

Ayers is exactly correct. What would have happened if Prescott Bush's very tenuous ties to Fritz Theissen, an early financial supporter of Adolf Hitler, had succeeded in being blown totally out of proportion. Would we have had two Presidents Bush? For all their sins, especially those of the younger Bush, that would have been wrong.

Ayers concludes by writing that “President-elect Obama and I sat on a board together; we lived in the same diverse and yet close-knit community; we sometimes passed in the bookstore. We didn’t pal around, and I had nothing to do with his positions. I knew him as well as thousands of others did, and like millions of others, I wish I knew him better.”

Fortunately, the minions of intolerance and despair failed to sidetrack the Obama Express. With good fortune we all will have eight years to get to know President-Elect Barack Obama better.

Friday, December 5, 2008

If you want a good laugh, you should follow the link to this article, written by Andy Schlafly (yes, he is the son of the notorious nutbag, Phyllis) found in his bastard creation Conservapedia. It is hilarious, unintentionally. Here are the first two paragraphs for the entry on Barack Obama. Remember, Conservapedia calls itself the trustworthy encyclopedia.

Barack Hussein Obama II (allegedly born in Honolulu, August 4, 1961) served as a first-term Democratic Senator from Illinois (2004-2008) and then, along with his running mate Joseph Biden, won the presidential election after twenty-three months of campaigning, raising and spending an unprecedented $650 million, most of which came from anonymous donors. An apparent Muslim, Obama could use the Koran when he is sworn into office.

Obama has espoused the socialist idea of "spreading the wealth, in other words raising the tax rates on business and the wealthy to a burdensome level in order to redistribute their income to low income individuals, many of whom don't currently pay income taxes. His health care plan forces employers to purchase health care or pay a fine and will force many into a poorly run single payer system. To announce his trip to Berlin in July 2008, Obama used posters which show a marked similarity to posters of Lenin. During Obama's youth in Hawaii, he developed a strong, almost Father/Son relationship with Frank Marshall Davis, a known Communist. For these reasons and others, he is generally considered to hold Marxist/Socialist views - views directly contrary to those of most Americans. And it is because of these beliefs that he has kept hidden from the view of the general public that many are suspicious of his agenda for the future of the US.

Oh my.

Conservapedia then provides 15 bullet point items that purport to prove that Obama will likely be the first Muslim president. Aside from the utter falsity of these items, I can't help but wonder who cares and what is the big deal if we were to have a Muslim president? I believe the Constitution provides for religious freedom.

Oh, and tell this young man's mother a Muslim cannot become president.

Monday, December 1, 2008

So, little Miss vast right wing conspiracy is going to be the new Secretary of State.....

Little Miss I was under fire when she wasn't is going to be our face around the world.

Little Miss can't even deal with the opposition party is now supposed to deal with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hugo Chavez.

I really don't have the words to describe how I feel about this...

Scared comes to mind.

The jarring sentences above were posted at 12:52 pm by our "good friend", Fred Dooley. I assume he was trying to make a point, however after reading the post, I can't help but wonder one of two things: 1) Why is Fred drinking at 12:52 pm and 2) Maybe he's not drinking. Oh my.

Fred, you need either increase your Antabuse dosage, or find an editor.

As I opened the door to the refrigerator and placed my coffee cup in there to warm it up, two thoughts occurred to me nearly simultaneously: coffee warming is usually performed in the microwave and once again 'tis the season to get all bent out of shape over what to call the season.

Having hot coffee in hand --not literally -- I have to say I don't see the big deal. What's the big deal about calling it Christmas. I mean, seriously, it's always been Christmas (or at least for quite a long time). I have no problem referring to the season as the Christmas season -- and I'm an agnostic bordering on atheism.

But I'm also not a hysterical agnostic bordering on atheism. I recognize there are certain constants in our society and one of them is the holiday labeled Christmas. Now, to be sure, I also don't get bent out of shape when some business decides to refer to the season in a more generic way for fear of offending shoppers. Isn't it their right to do so?

Apparently not at the cost of slamming the sensitivities of the sensitive sort. I'm amused at this bitter dichotomy conservatives seem to suffer from all the time. One example: we should not ban cigarette smoking in restaurants, bars and other public places the conservative argument goes, because it will likely hurt business and shouldn't we leave it to businesses to make these sorts of decisions? And yet, when businesses make decisions like seasonal name-calling, suddenly they're in cahoots with Marxist leftists?

People. Take a deep breath. The one truism of the season is it's a time of giving and for love. Relax. Let it go. Celebrate and/or worship as you deem appropriate and don't let it bother you too much.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

I think that there are really good local conservative bloggers. There are those who are not so good. And then, there are those whose content borders on the hysterical. One of these is Mary at Freedom Eden.

Her latest "masterpiece" is a look at Bill Cunningham, a Cinncinati-based radio show host, who has been running afoul of Media Matters, a self-professed media watchdog. Ms Freedom Eden claims that Media Matters is targeting Cunningham because of his continued use of the Barack Obama's middle name. Which, she writes, is ridiculous because Obama will need to use it when he is sworn in as President. And, she pants, this is just the beginning. She believes that Cunningham is the first of a “long list of conservative talkers to be deemed a 'purveyor of hate speech' by the Left. The effort is underway to silence conservative talk radio, to squelch free speech, to muzzle dissent.”

Look out hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet. Those darned leftists.

But really, dissent? She calls what Cunningham spews dissent? Mary must have missed the following examples of sewerage dished up from the septic tank that is Cunningham's mind.

From the October 28 broadcast of Clear Channel's The Big Show with Bill Cunningham:

“Imagine being 10 years old, being raised -- imagine being 10 years old in Jakarta, Indonesia, being raised as a Muslim, and your mother, Ann Dunham, hates you so much that she sends you to Honolulu to live with her mom and dad, so she can stay in Jakarta, Indonesia, and being raised -- being married to Barry Soetoro. And imagine at the age of 1 or 2 seeing your father for the last time. See, his father was a typical black father who, right after the birth, left the baby. That's what black fathers do. They simply leave.”

Wow. Barack's mother hated him and black fathers don't stick around after birth. I don't know about you, but that seems a bit of a sretch. Oh, and where's the dissent?

Or, how about this turd from the October 30 broadcast of The Big Show with Bill Cunningham:

“... because Obama wants to gas the Jews, like the PLO wants to gas the Jews, like the Nazis gassed the Jews.”

Cunningham was having a conversation with a fictional character, Randy Furman, when he uttered that classic piece of – what did Mary call it -- oh yeah, dissent. And on his November 3 broadcast of Clear Channel's The Big Show with Bill Cunningham:

"He goes out to his left-wing buddies in San Francisco and smears God, smears guns, smears everything great about this country. Then he comes to these rallies like bromides, like Adolf Hitler in 1933, and the faithful are shouting, 'Yes we can, yes we can.'”

Anyway, my definition of what contitutes dissent differs markedly from Mary's, because I'm fairly certain my definition actually includes some differences of opinion. All I read of Cunningham was ginned up hate. Yes, hate. That's my opinion, my dissent.

But you know, what even more remarkable is nowhere in the pieces written at Media Matters covering this horse manure does anyone suggest that Cunningham should be muzzled. Why not? Well, here is how Media Matters itself describes its mission.

Media Matters for America is a Web-based, not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. Media.

Monitoring, analying and correcting conservative misinformation. Hmmm. I don't see any references to muzzling.

Launched in May 2004, Media Matters for America put in place, for the first time, the means to systematically monitor a cross section of print, broadcast, cable, radio, and Internet media outlets for conservative misinformation — news or commentary that is not accurate, reliable, or credible and that forwards the conservative agenda — every day, in real time.

Using the website http://www.mediamatters.org/ as the principal vehicle for disseminating research and information, Media Matters posts rapid-response items as well as longer research and analytic reports documenting conservative misinformation throughout the media. Additionally, Media Matters works daily to notify activists, journalists, pundits, and the general public about instances of misinformation, providing them with the resources to rebut false claims and to take direct action against offending media institutions.Meida Matters posts rapid-response items documenting conservative misinformation. And, provides resources to rebut false claims and take direct action against offending institutions.

Oh, I see, it's the take direct action part that Mary doesn't like. But, how does that equate to muzzling? Well frankly, it doesn't.

You see, the issue now is that the conservative media no longer can get away with saying the frothingly inaccurate crap they've gotten away with and they don't like it. Having been able to frame discussions with inaccuracy, downright lies and race-baiting for years, the conservative media and their apologists see anyone highlighting their hate speech as attempts at muzzling. In the same way they call any attempt to reenact the Fairness Doctrine (btw: I'm against) as censorship when in fact no speech is being censored, the intent is merely to bring balance. But that's another post.

Some conservatives simply don't feel good about themselves unless they can spew hate recklessly or alternately play the victim game, which Mary buys into well.

Because that's what some conservatives are best at (the victim part). This was posted at Plaisted Writes:

Mike, you bitter devisive hate mongering liberal coward. The hate you and you cowardly liberals have shown Bush (personally) and all things conservative. This country is still solidly center-right. The only thing the nigger has done is assured that Republicans will regain control quicker. When Obamaramma takes current 6.5% unemployment numbers and turns them into 35%, by raising taxes and creating huge government welfatre programs, this country will lynch the nigger faster thana CC Sabathia fastball.

Another tragedy fostered by the divisiveness of hate radio.

I can't help but note that dad29, a local conservative blogger likes to refer to the President-Elect as Obamamamamama. He must be related to the person above. Or, he's a victim, too.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

I met Elliot about two years ago at one of the first blogger functions. It was held at Marquette University and had as panelists Charlie Sykes, Jessica McBride, Ed Garvey and some flack named Brain Fraley. Mike Mathias and I joined up with James Wigderson at the local Starbucks, exchanged pleasantries and talked behind Elliot's back for at least an hour.

No, we really didn't.

I met Elliot's alter ego later during one of the breaks. Interesting guy. I mentioned I had read his on-line first chapter of "The Abortionist" and thought it dark. I wrote my own -- needless to say an anti "The Abortionist" tale. Elliot thought it pretty good. Or, he was just being nice.

Seriously, Elliot is one of the friendlier bloggers in SE Wisconsin. He's a partisan guy but with sense of humor. And he's not so quick to tell you to go buy a mirror store like a certain blogger I won't name who owns an unlimited supply of whiteout.

So here you are, Elliot. I won't do this for everyone, but then hey, you're not just anyone to me.

According to the New Yory Times, six Long Island teenagers have been charged with hate crimes in the death of a Hispanic man, Marcelo Lucero.

Mr. Lucero’s killing has brought to the fore a fierce debate about race relations in Patchogue, a comfortable village of 11,700 where Mr. Lucero lived and worked for most of the 16 years he had been in the United States.

Latinos make up a quarter of the population, according to the 2000 census, a figure that is growing, fanning what some residents describe as a deepening resentment toward illegal immigrants in general, and day laborers in particular.

And no doubt fanned by hate radio in all its guises and forms. As documented by Media Matters, hate radio has gone out of its way to enflame hatred toward not just Hispanics, but minorities in general.

G. Gordon Libby

On the June 5 broadcast of his radio show, G. Gordon Liddy asserted: "[T]he problem that I have is with people who come over here and instead of wanting to become Americans, you know, fly the American flag, learn English, and so forth, they want to fly the Mexican flag, they want to speak Spanish, you know, and other varieties of illegal alien." Liddy later added: "They want to reconquer America, they say."

Jim Quinn

On October 10, KSFO's Lee Rodgers repeated a variation of the claim that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) reported that it gave "5 million illegal aliens" subprime loans which have not been paid back. The same day, Quinn & Rose's Jim Quinn also claimed that "[f]ive million of these bad mortgages went to illegal aliens" without citing a source for the figure. But neither noted that HUD has reportedly stated that this statistic is false.

Michael Savage

We need to get our troops out of Iraq and put them on the streets of America to protect us from the scourge of illegal immigrants who are running rampant across America, killing our police for sport, raping, murdering like a scythe across America while the liberal psychos are telling us they come here to work." Savage added: "[Y]ou turn on the cable news, they're covering again a missing child. Not a missing country but a missing child. ... We hear about the rape of a woman, but not about the rape of the Statue of Liberty. The Statue of Liberty is crying, she's been raped and disheveled -- raped and disheveled by illegal aliens."

And regarding Muslims, Savage, said this:

"Why would a nation that is as evolved as America, and as liberal as America is socially, want to bring in throwbacks who are living in the 15th century?" He also asked: "What is the societal benefit of bringing in throwbacks, some of whom are no doubt terrorists, and some of whom are gonna produce children who will become terrorists?"

I have heard people repeat verbatim crap like this espoused by others hate squawkers as though it's truth from on high. It's this sort of language that sets people off and enables barbaric behavior like what occurred in New York.

The these two stories had me shaking my head today in wonder. The first involved the young child who was tortured and died before the age of two. At the funeral, a fight broke out -- at one point the brawl apparently came close to toppling the child's coffin.

Several people began to taunt Thomas [the chil'd father] because of his relationship to the foster parents. He clutched the funeral program in his fists, his eyes closed.

Glover [the child's mother] was assisted to the casket. Just as she reached it, the brawl began.

Who threw the first blow was unclear. Thomas was punched on the left side of his face. He was removed from the chapel and taken to a couch, the left side of his face severely swollen, a bloody gash beneath his left eye. Family surrounded the couch to protect him.

In the chapel, chairs were thrown aside and flower displays were knocked over. Several people grabbed the boy's casket to keep it from being flung down. Glover screamed.

As people cried out for calm, the fight spread to the funeral home lobby and into the street. The lectern with the visitor's book was knocked over. Someone reported seeing a gun, and stunned onlookers fled the building.

The other story, same day, had to do with a mother who apparently felt that giving her son a gun to go out and finish an altercation that had occurred earlier was the correct thing to do.

[Milwaukee Police Chief] Flynn said he did not know what sparked Tuesday night's altercation.

"Listen, we're dealing with immature young men who do dumb things," he said. "The only problem for us now is they do dumb things with semiautomatic handguns."

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Thursday, November 13, 2008

I was in tears by the time I finished reading this article. The short life of this infant was a horror show gone bad. Everyday I care for my 22-month old daughter. I feed her. I cherish every sound and every movement she makes. I'm full of wonder as I see her grow and learn. I see unconditional love in my daughter's eyes and I am blessed.

And I mourn for this other child who probably still would have loved her aunt if given the chance. Such is the bond and the beauty of children. Such sadness.

A 24-year-old Milwaukee woman was charged today with killing her infant nephew and abusing her two-year-old niece while the children were in her foster care since June.

Officials at the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare have vowed to review the case, which one homicide investigator likened to torture and called one of the worst infant abuse deaths he has seen.

"You have broken bones that aren't being medically tended to. You have burn marks that aren't being medically tended to," said Milwaukee police Lt. Alfonso Morales. "And I'm not talking for a day or two. I'm talking for weeks or months."

Crystal P. Keith is charged with first-degree reckless homicide and physical abuse of a child causing great bodily harm and is being held on $200,000 bail at the Milwaukee County Jail. Keith is married to the brother of the children's biological father. Her husband has not been charged in the case.

According to the complaint, Keith told police who responded to her home in the 3000 block of S. 12th St. on Monday that she repeatedly slapped Christopher L. Thomas in the face for not eating. She said she choked him, hung him upside down and pressed his head on the floor. At some point, the infant's eyes rolled back into his head and he began to vomit. He stopped breathing. She then stuck the handle of a hair brush down Christopher's throat, she said, in order to revive him.

The boy died the next day at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. He suffered blunt force trauma to his head, had a broken right arm, bruises on his thighs, throat and neck, multiple scalp injuries and a lacerated tongue. Keith described to police a number of beatings she had given the child since he began crawling.

I took CPR. I don't recall that hand brush handles were part of any technique for reviving a victim.

"With the police department, medical examiner and other authorities, we are investigating this tragic incident," said Denise Revels Robinson, director of the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare.

"When we learn all of the facts surrounding this situation, we will take all necessary and appropriate action," Robinson said.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Ho ho ho. He's the gift that keeps on giving. That would be the newly elected clown prince of blogging, Fred Dooley of the hilariously named Real Deadbeat Debate Wisconsin blog.

Questioned as to his morals (again) because of his unwavering support for Peter DiGaudio, the threatmeister of SE Wisconsin, Dooley finds himslf, once again in a familiar role – defending his actions.

The funny thing is, no one asked him to offer a defense. But then, Fred's skin is so thin you could see his heart if he had one. For this, Fred is once again the recipient of the award named for him. Thanks Fred – don't stop being you, as though you could.

This is why Rick Esenberg, brilliant though he may be as a lawyer and writer, saddens me because he has become such an apologist for the indefensible – be it WMC, George Bush, Sarah Palin, the Iraq War or right-wing talk radio – namely Charlie Sykes and his caddy, Jeff Wagner. This paragraph written by Esenberg is a good example of his fall from grace.

I understand that Belling's schtick is outrage, but Sykes and Wagner are hardly breathing fire. We have embarrassments like G. Gordon Liddy and Michael Savage. The left has Randi Rhodes and Keith Olbermann.

Keith Olbermann?

I can understand that Esenberg doesn't like Olbermann. He doesn't back down from the fight. And he doesn't apologize. He also calls it as he sees it, regardless from the left or right. And, whereas most of the media personalities are too afraid to take on the GOP machine, Olbermann relishes the fight. I'll agree that his “Worst Person” series is not always the most mature, but it's hardly fire-breathing. Comparing him to Liddy and Savage? That's just nonsense.

The Brew City Brawler has already covered Sykes and his inane shenanigans. And Wagner is not worth the time. But neither is in Olbermann's league as far as providing serious commentary from the heart. This video by Olberman (below) says volumes about the man. He claims not to have had a vested interest in whether Proposition 8 passed or not. Yet, he defends those who want only what others already have, the right to marry.

I have a vested interest because I have a brother who is gay. He is the kindest person I know. His partner passed away about six months ago and while I don't ever remember hearing any talk about taking that next step in their relationship, I wonder if they would have if it had been legally available.

I've never heard Sykes or Wagner come close to this in eloquence. They're both second-tier squawkers who if they had hearts might actually have a heart. Esenberg defends their dreck, their lies. That's indefensible.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

I sent off an email to family members asking if they could make it Saturday for Abby's 8th birthday and was reminded that today was November 11th, Veteran's Day. It was cause for memories.

I remember staying with Nana at her home in Appleton shortly after Grandpa's death at the age of 82. It was September 1978 or so. Nana and I were foraging through some items when I found an old uniform. I asked Nana if this was Grandpa's. She said it was his WWI uniform and beckoned to me to try it on. It was a little tight, but it fit! I was 22 at the time and pretty skinny. It was cool to know that my Grandpa and I were about the same size back in our youth. (The picture on the left is of Grandpa in his uniform around 1930.)

I spent a lot of time at my grandparents as a child. My Dad was working hard to feed a growing family (it would become five eventually). We (usually Kelly and I) would often stay with Nana and Grandpa for a week or so at a time during the summer.

I didn't mind. I loved visiting. I enjoyed puttering in the backyard with Nana, picking raspberries, blueberries, apples, pears, dodging the bees, etc. The gathered fruits would later become the filling for pies; the aroma of these just-baked pies filling the house and wafting out the backdoor to the yard where I could be found building miniature cities with hand-smoothed expressways in the gravel driveway.

I remember evenings sitting on the floor in front of Grandpa's lap. He'd peel apples. It was a wondrous experience for the grandkids, watching Grandpa maintain one - long - continuous - peel. Then he'd present slices to each of us kids from the flat side of the paring blade.

I especially liked going with Grandpa to the driving range to practice hitting golfballs. He was an excellent golfer. He had seven hole-in-ones (I've had one, using an old iron of his) and he shot a 79 at Reid Municipal Park in Appleton at the age of 79. Pretty remarkable.

I'd also go out with Grandpa on the course. I was his caddy until my teen years. I had a blast with Grandpa's old buddies and on occasion was even allowed to hit a golfball.

Even when I was finally allowed to golf, Grandpa insisted I never keep score. Nonetheless, in my adult years it's been a goal of mine to break 80. I've hit 80 six times, but have never made it past. I once needed only to bogey the last hole do break 80. It's been a source of frustration. Grandpa must have known something.

Grandpa's service for our nation consisted of being drafted in September 1918. He trained in Alabama and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in December 1918. He never made it to Europe to actually fight in the war-to-end-all-wars and was discharged in in early 1919.

His only child, my Dad, enlisted in the Marines in January 1945 at the age of 17. He trained in the Carolinas and then transferred to California. In October 1945 he sailed from Washington; visiting Japan and the Philippines. He was discharged in 1947.

He later decided to joined the priesthood. Fortunately he changed his mind before his final vows; I'm thankful for obvious reasons.

Over the years I've tried in my own way to fill my Dad's shoes, though I've insisted I wasn't. We've clashed as Son and Dad often do. I'm sad to say that our relationship has not always been the best.

Recently, I sent an email to him asking he stop sending me any more of those thoroughly debunked anti-Obama emails that were cruising the Internet. After explaining how this latest email was false, I asked whether he had any sense and would he please stop or I would have to block his emails. I wish I had not done that.

Earlier this summer while tossing a ball around with my Son, I noticed how difficult it was to throw with any sort of pace. The distance I could throw a ball had also diminished. But I kept at it even though I knew I would be sore the next day. I thought of my Dad then. He used to set up as catcher and let me throw fastball after fastball. They were not very fast. I tried out for Little League and the first pitch I threw was hit over the centerfield fence. But Dad kept catching and encouraging.

So I keep catching and running after my Son's errant throws. I help him with his homework and I try not to take it personally when he argues with me or gets sullen, as teenagers are wont to do regardless of the generation.

I've been a fortunate person. I had the chance to know my Grandpa and had a Dad who worked and stuck around to care for his family. There are too many children missing that. Because of their efforts, I've turned out fairly all right. I have three kids now. In addition to my teenage boy, I have two beautiful daughters, a wonderful wife, a home -- a great family.

I wonder if my Dad has an old uniform lying around? Despite our differences, I bet we were about the same size once, too, in our youth.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Ha ha. The coward. As I wrote previously, my posting one comment every three months at that racist site won't be missed by me.

One thing, though. Fred often paints himself as the victim and that everyone is bashing him for absolutely no reason. Because, you know, he's a reasonable guy. Yet, the very first sentence in his latest opus says this:

Those of us in Racine would like to thank the voters in Milwaukee County for being stupid enough to raise their sales taxes by 1%.

Italics mine. Fred likes to refer to people as idiots, stupid, ridiculous, etc. every chance he gets. Apparently he believes this to be a part of real "debate." In reality, it's a sign of insecurity.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

You can go to hell as far as I am concerned. He is not my president. And you can take this country and shove it where the sun don’t shine. Screw you. You are not my fellow countryman as far as I am concerned. I want nothing to do with your damn country.

I don’t hope for his success. In fact, I seriously hope this country gets attacked by terrorists over and over again and every possible bad thing that can happen does happen ... to people like you.

If I had the money, I’d put a bounty on his melon. Seriously.

I guess, sadly, we've come to expect this sort of lunatic behavior from Peter. And, this is the third comment I've seen from a conservative threatening the life of President-Elect Barack Obama. Seriously, should we contact the Secret Service.

And while I don't advocate deletion of comments, I would have expected Owen Robinson to at least have said something about Peter's outburst. Owen's wife did!

UPDATE: Owen added a comment replying to Peter's outburst, after I had written this post. I apologize, Owen. You did the right thing.

I hope that your statements are the product of emotion on a tough night and that you will retract them. Regardless, they are completely inappropriate. I agree that America chose the wrong guy, but he is our duly elected president (almost) and the office and our nation deserve respect. We can vigorously oppose his policies while not wishing the man or the office ill will.

Late Sunday evening I posted a piece highlighting an Obama flyer telling people how to vote.

Among the items listed there was a line telling if you could not prove who you are to bring along a neighbor to vouch for you.

I thought that illegal and researched and posted as much.

The next morning it was brought to my attention that idiotic standard was indeed legal so I did the right thing and deleted the post immediately. Funny thing though, whenever I do the right thing the left always complains about the way I do it. That's what the left does, complains about the right.

The left in their unyielding idiocy has been screaming for a retraction. Sometimes I don't have time to write a flowery piece and only have time to press the delete button, this was one of those times. Until someone starts paying me to blog, that will be the way things are around here.

Fact is in Wisconsin there are no standards to be able to vote.

I apologize for that post in error on Sunday evening.

However, I'm still waiting for all the lefties in the area to put up posts regarding the clearing of Sarah Palin in Trooper-Gate. One sided outrage is such an ugly thing.

I wrote a reply in the comment section there addressing this latest failure of Fred's to understand what it was he had done wrong.

However, I'm still waiting for all the lefties in the area to put up posts regarding the clearing of Sarah Palin in Trooper-Gate.

Why? That was a legitimate news story. And, she was cleared using appropriate channels. Government officials should always be held to a higher standard. Besides, I personally wrote nothing about Troopergate. I see no reason to write anything now.

Your faux pas, on the other hand, was done out of willful ignorance. You thought you saw a gotcha moment and jumped without looking.

Additionally, by deleting your post rather that leaving it and including your mea culpa as a responsible blogger would have done, you have now left Red State hanging because their original link to your post now leads no where. Questions, questions.

Fred has now informed me via e-mail that this post has been deleted and I have lost posting privileges. Considering I post a comment there approximately once every three months, I'm fairly certain I'll be able to overcome my disappointment. But it is truly a sad commentary on this person.

I stand by a comment I made. If Fred had simply admitted his error on the original post; if he had admitted he jumped before looking when he accused the Obama/Biden campaign of lying about election rules, no one would probably have cared.

Instead, Fred's reaction makes him appear even sillier and cowardly in the eyes of his peers.

Back in 1972, when I was a sophomore in highschool, I first became acquainted with presidential campaigns and candidates by helping to run the student-led campaign for the anti-war Republican congressman, Pete McCloskey. McCloskey's run for the Republican nomination was doomed to failure. He was facing the still incredibly popular President Richard Nixon who had managed to push Watergate questions temporarily into the background.

But it was fun and it piqued an interest in politics I didn't know I had. Soon, with McCloskey in the background I became aware of the Democratic candidate for president, George McGovern. McGovern's campaign was making a huge effort to get the youth vote out and I was swept along in the enthusiasm generated by his quixotic campaign. Unfortunately, the Tom Eagleton affair blew up his bid and that enthusiasm faded and failed to turn out the vote.

Four years later it was Gerald Ford vs. Jimmy Carter for president. I was now old enough to vote, but neither choice did much for me. So, my first vote for the presidency wound up being a write-in as I voted for George McGovern.

Fourteen years later (I spent the intervening years travelling the US, Europe and working) ... I'm working part-time at the Kenwood Inn at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. I had just gotten to work and I peeked out into the dining room. I was stunned to see George McGovern enter, escorted by a couple of professors I recognized.

Anyway, I was excited. George McGovern! I had always wanted to meet him and here was my chance. I walked over, excused myself and asked the Senator if I could shake his hand. He smiled and as we shook hands I told him that I was honored to finally meet him and that, additionally, I had voted for him in 1976.

The professors sitting at the table exchanged smirky looks. McGovern, though, was all courtesy and he gently told me that I must have meant 1972 because that was the year he ran for president. I smiled and said no. I explained I hadn't been old enough to vote in 1972 so had waited until the next election to write his name in.

With that he smiled again, thanked me and squeezed my hand a bit extra. I'll never forget our meeting.

It's a shame that McGovern never got the chance to lead our nation. We as a people would have been better off -- by far.

Well, just got back from voting. It's none of your business who I voted for (like it's a mystery), but I can say my 22-month old daughter voted for Barack Obama and she has the "I Voted" sticker to prove it.

This has been a most exciting pre-election season. I really can't remember a better one, though personally, I favor the 1972 campaign. Here's why.

That year I was a sophomore in highschool at West Bend West (Go Spartans!). As part of one of those civic duty lessons that social studies departments are so fond of, we students were given the opportunity to organize our own campaigns for president, with the actual players in the primaries as our clients.

Being a bit of a rebel I decided to head the Pete McCloskey for President campaign. Heaven forbid I would do anything for Richard Nixon -- mostly because my dad was voting for him, but also because I had yet to make that clean break from my dad and move to the Democratic side of the ledger. Eventually I would and George McGovern is today still a hero of mine (another story on that).

I don't remember much about McCloskey except that he was against the Vietnam War, and didn't stand a chance of winning. But he wasn't Nixon.

We had to give a speech before the student body (I was nominated to do this). I must have been quite the sight -- 120 pounds soaking wet with mismatched clothes (I still have this issue today, my wife dresses me for important occasions) and one-armed glasses resting perilously on my geeky nose.

There were three of us in the McCloskey campaign. He wound up garnering 13 votes. Though he lost by a huge margin (Washington County being Nixon country then and very conservative today), I considered it a victory of sorts that we'd been able to convince ten others.

Oh, and we had balloons and gave out candy bars. No other campaign used props.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Fred Dooley, owner and operator of the amusement blog, Real Debate Wisconsin, has a problem with unethical behavior. And well he should. Unethical behavior is something that should be stamped out. Especially when it's a blogger doing it because the actions of one do affect the actions of the others.

The Democrats are passing out a flyer in Wisconsin that tells people just how easy to vote in Wisconsin.

One of the bullet points is this:

No proof of residence? You can still register to vote if you bring an eligible voter from your municipality who shows proof of residence and affirms that you live at your address.

There is just one problem. That's not the law in Wisconsin. Having a character witness cannot get you registered to vote.

But who cares. Law, scmaw as far the Democrats are concerned.

The problem with this is, as pointed out by one of Red State's commenters, it's inaccurate. Just to provide proof (you know, for the sake of truthiness) of what the flyer from the Obama/Biden campaign said, below is a scan.

Corroborating WitnessIf an Election Day registrant or a voter with an “ID required” notation is unable to provide proof of residence, they may have another qualified elector of the municipality corroborate his or her residence by signing the Voter Registration Application (EB-131) as a witness. The corroborator must be a qualified elector of the municipality and provide proof of residence. The corroborator is not required to be a registered voter.

There's more, but the gist of the flyer is absolutely accurate. Turns out those Democrats are actually quite ethical.

Hmmm. Kind of makes you wonder where Red State got this wrong information? Why, the link to the source is right there in the body of the text. The link encompasses the words “...are passing out a flyer in Wisconsin.” And where does the link lead to -- nowhere anymore because the offensive post has been deleted. But before that deletion occurred, the link quite clearly jumped to here:

Say it ain't so Joe the Plumber. Fred Dooley at Real Debate Wisconsin is playing fast and easy with ethics? Yep. Fortunately, due to the timely actions of a local person, we have the text of the original Dooley post.

I quote, "No proof of residence? You can still register to vote if you bring an eligible voter from your municipality who shows proof of residence and affirms that you live at your address."

Sorry folks, they made that up. Here is a link to the State of Wisconsin Elections Board rules, nowhere does showing up to register with someone to vouch for you come into play.

This flyer was paid or by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin so they are obviously complicit in encouraging people to break election law.

Why do Democrats keep trying to cheat?

Why won't any of the major media call them on it?

Can you imagine the outroar if Republicans were passing fraudulent information about Wisconsin election law? Hell, they are after AG Van Hollen for daring to ask the "accountability" board to follow the freaking law.

The unethical Democratic party is at it again, and they'll continue to get away with it until enough people raise hell about this problem.

All gone.

Nowhere to be found.

Vanished into thin air.

Pffft.

Of course, it's not the first time either. Next time Fred has anything to say about anything, don't you believe him. I'll bet Red State will think twice.

I think Fred deserves a big old F-bomb for this prank. Thanks Fred, for making us all look bad.

Charlie Sykes lies so often about everything that it's got to be difficult for him to keep track. Just this morning (I turned WTMJ on to listen to Wayne Laravie's recap of the game -- not on) Charlie said he would be covering two things in depth that Barack Obama said the previous day. "... and I'm not taking these out of context," he breathlessly exclaimed.

Charlie admits that he does take things out of context. Really. Lying Charlie Sykes admits he's a liar.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

When does WTMJ squawk-host Jeff Wagner believe that a crime is not a crime?

According to Wagner, Darshane Morgan, the young woman who claimed to police and school authorities that she had been subjected to both verbal and physical abuse at West Bend East due to her race should be prosecuted because ... “a crime is a crime, even if it's committed by a 15-year old African-American girl.”

Wagner was notably silent when another nationally covered event occurred, and maintains his distance today with the announcement that Ashley Todd, the 20-year oldwhite McCain supporter who falsely claimed a black Barack Obama supporter assaulted her and carved a “B” on her cheek will be released from jail and enter a probabtion prgram for first-time offenders.

Under the agreement, her criminal record will be expunged after if she stays out of trouble and gets mental treatment on probation. Most people spend a year on probation in the program, which is for first-time, nonviolent offenders.

"Our focus was really, 'This is somebody who appeared to have some mental issues,'" said prosecutor Chris Avetta. "And we wanted to make sure she doesn't hurt herself or anybody else."

No words of concern from Wagner for Ms. Morgan, an obviously troubled teen. It's no wonder a majority of Wisconsin voters decided that Wagner would be unsuitable as Attorney General back in 1994, relegating him to a second-rate position as Charlie Sykes' caddy at WTMJ. Obviously, the citizens of Wisconsin knew a crime when they saw one. Electing Wagner would have been prosecutable.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

It's getting real bad for the Palin/McCain ticket as each of their manufactured smears come crashing to the ground. I predict when the grazing is bare and the sheep are hunkering for one last leaf of grass, McCain will finally succumb to leading the herd in this last hurrah and squander his last vestiges of honor. Akin to theose moronic USA chants will be this last volley:

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Thanks to dad29. Without his innuendo and invective regarding the American Civil Liberties Union, I would not have been compelled to join. Woo hoo. I got my decal in the mail today. I'm now officially a card-carrying member.

The financial crisis on Wall Street has claimed its first large Milwaukee arts group. Milwaukee Shakespeare's board of directors is closing the company because its principal funder, the Argosy Foundation, informed the troupe it was unable to provide the grant expected for the 2008-'09 season.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

A comment left at Plaisted Writes, where Mike has been forced to moderate comments because of the writer.

"Early morning, November 4th a shot rang out in the Chicago sky, the Newspapers shouted Obamas has died!!!!!!!Free at last from the socialist democrat joke, The liberals whined, the liberals cried, the rest of the country cheered! They said he has died, who gives a fuck about his pride, let him have his pride, he has died! Now capitalism has survived, and socilalism has also died. Obamas memory will survive as liberals are afraid to lie, they hold the line, afraid to cross the line, as they fear they may be next!! So this message is clear, for all to hear this socialists time is short, hope someone is out there for me to cheer, I hope someone not me, will take him out!! So this country can stay free.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Must read. Fairly devastating opinion about the candidates' differences.

It will be an enormous challenge just to get the nation back to where it was before Mr. Bush, to begin to mend its image in the world and to restore its self-confidence and its self-respect. Doing all of that, and leading America forward, will require strength of will, character and intellect, sober judgment and a cool, steady hand.

Mr. Obama has those qualities in abundance. Watching him being tested in the campaign has long since erased the reservations that led us to endorse Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primaries. He has drawn in legions of new voters with powerful messages of hope and possibility and calls for shared sacrifice and social responsibility.

Mr. McCain, whom we chose as the best Republican nominee in the primaries, has spent the last coins of his reputation for principle and sound judgment to placate the limitless demands and narrow vision of the far-right wing. His righteous fury at being driven out of the 2000 primaries on a racist tide aimed at his adopted daughter has been replaced by a zealous embrace of those same win-at-all-costs tactics and tacticians.

I just heard Hank Williams Jr. on the Neil Cavuto show. He's endorsing McCain, which is fine. But after listening to him I came to the realization the man is an absolute buffoon. Should make up a sign: Buffoons for McCain. That would go over.

Just to get an idea of how out of touch the Republican hierarchy is with its faithful lower-class sheep, and the rest of us, I went to the online store, Ann Taylor, to look at and get an dea of woman's apparel prices. I really don't know the cost of such stuff, so in an effort to reach the $150,000 apparently spent on Gov. Sarah Palin, I used the outfit creation menu, took the highest price in each category, multiplied that price by four and then assumed she would wear three suits a day for two weeks because of her grueling schedule inciting the bleating masses. The overall price does not include undergarments or jewelry.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

The New York Post has admitted the room service story it posted about Michele Obama was false. I suppose doing a little checking before writing the story would have been too hard, too professional, too journalistic.

I'll be deleting the blog post I did on that story, it would not be fair to keep it posted.

Heh. I suspect the real reason for the deletion has nothing to do with fairness and everything to do with the fear of being continuously reminded of his faux pas. A blogger with actual morals about blogging would add an update and apology to the original post.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Attendees at a Barack Obama rally Oct. 19 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, had their tires slashed apparently by supporters of John McCain and Sarah Palin. Following the rally, early Obama voters were heckled by McCain/Palin supporters outside at least one polling place in Fayetteville.

According to the Fayetteville Observer, some person or persons unknown slashed the tires of at least 30 vehicles parked outside Fayetteville's Crown Coliseum during the Oct. 19 Obama rally, leaving attendees including a single mother and her baby stranded and upset. At least four tow trucks had to be called for stranded vehicles at a cost upwards of $100 for each vehicle. One Obama supporter quoted in this report expressed the belief that the slashed tires were an effort to intimidate her and others like her, but insisted that she wouldn't be deterred from supporting Obama.

Following the rally, Obama supporters taking advantage of early voting were met by hecklers outside at least one Fayettevile polling place. Unlike the anonymous tire-slashers of earlier in the day, the hecklers outside this polling place left no doubt as to who they were and why they were there. As shown in two videos posted to the Washington Times, many of the hecklers were holding McCain/Palin campaign signs; and all were white while most of the voters they were heckling were black. Reporter Christina Bellantoni described the McCain/Palin forces here as "a group of loud and angry protesters who shouted and mocked the voters as they walked in" to vote, their shouts including the usual claims that Obama is a "socialist" or a "terrorist," and even that the voters themselves were "cheaters."

Four years ago some young area adults got caught slashing the tires of vehicles rented by the local GOP to aid in getting out the conservative vote. The responsible parties, including two who were related to local Democrats were eventually found guilty and sentenced to four to six months.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Deke Rivers, at his blog Caffeinated Politics, rightly brings up the issue of Rush Limbaugh stoking the flames of racism with his intemperate comments about Colin Powell and his endorsement of Barack Obama for preisdent. A point worthy of discussion. You know, real debate.

But Fred Dooley, headmaster of Dooley and Pals and sycophant author of the hilariously misnamed blog, Real Debate Wisconsin had this to say in rebuttal:Where’s your report on leftie Ed Shultz approving of vote theft?

I can see a pattern here – so here are some more Fred attempts at real debate.

Blogspot subject: Brett Favre's return from retirement has been a media circus.

Fred's response: When's your next story on blacks in the inner city?

Blogpost subject: It is important the United Sattes return to space and complete the space station.

Fred's response: Where's your story on the proper methods of toe jam removal?

Blogpost subject: Climate change is a serious issue and will effect millions before the end of the next decade.

Fred's response: Where's your story on conservative bloggers exposing themselves as blithering idiots every time they put fingers to keyboard?

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Today begins a new feature on The Other Side of My Mouth: Dooley and His Pals (ages 2-7). It's dedicated to the often ironic, usually childish commentary at the hysterically misnamed Real Debate Wisconsin. All are welcome to contribute (piratebat@wi.rr.com). Here's today's first batch of playground witticisms.

What do you expect? Obama's just a street thug with a law degree. --Asian Badger

Libtardsavenothing. You are a failure. You've accomplished nothing in your life. You can bullshit till the cows come home (or in your case mom and mom) but you are a nobody. Libs are useless. --Gus/mickey

Barack Obama is a disgrace, as is anyone dumb enough to vote for our new Socialist Overlord. --Dooley

Allah-is-groovy, you are a lib troll because you are a lib troll. You know it, I know it we all know it. Your entire presence here is to piss people off with your disdain for Jesus. --Gus/mickey

Radzich, you are quite the toolbox....and an illeterate one. --Still unreal

As I wrote earlier on this blog, I believe a desensitization of American society has occurred because of 9-11. And I blamed "...those who claim to be right-wingers, conservatives, Republican and many so-called Christians. That includes not only those who have been the most forward about spreading vicious lies and slanders about Muslims, helping to whip ignorant Americans into a fever-pitch frenzy toward anyone who looks or sounds different -- Muslim."

Yesterday (Ret.) General Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama for president. He had kind words to say for Obama's opponent, too, but he also said this:

I'm also troubled by, not what Sen. McCain says, but what members of the party say, and it is permitted to be said such things as: "Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct answer is: he is not a Muslim. He's a Christian. He's always been a Christian.

But the really right answer is: What if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is: No, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some 7-year-old Muslim-American kid believing he or she can be President?

Yet I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion: he's a Muslim, and he might be associated with terrorists. This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

Powell is absolutely correct. As I reiterated previously, those on the right who have contributed to the anger, mistrust and lies, should be ashamed of themselves. And the next time someone finds it convenient to belittle Muslims, remember this picture of the gravestone of a brave American who gave his life for this country.